


Oubliette

by prosodiical



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 03:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12050124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosodiical/pseuds/prosodiical
Summary: Noctis was nine when he found Ardyn.





	Oubliette

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neverminetohold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/gifts).



Noctis was nine when he found Ardyn.

He'd snuck away from his minder earlier in the day. She was used to it, and he knew she'd think he was out exploring the gardens, or gone to one of the places he liked. But Noctis had been listening to Iris's stories, lately; she loved books about mystery and adventure, and he'd been swept away in visions of hidden passages in castles, of long-lost dungeons.

They had a dungeon, Noctis knew. Somewhere. But he wasn't looking for that when he peered around the door to the library and stepped in when he found it empty, or when he ran his fingertips along the rough-hewn walls that had probably been standing for centuries. Maybe he should be paying more attention in school to learn about these things, though Noctis always found himself dozing in the afternoon sun to the teacher's droning voice; even Ignis's patient history lessons hadn't yet stuck. Still, there was something about the palace that drew him further along, inward through less-trod passages as he avoided the few standing guards, until he found he couldn't go further at all.

He ducked behind a door open halfway as one of the guards turned in his direction, and found himself in another disused room, dust thick along the half-empty shelves. Noctis scrambled for cover as he heard someone's voice in the hall: "Did you see something?"

The door cracked further open, light spilling in as Noctis hit his head on the underside of a desk. He bit back the sound of pain as he watched the guard's footsteps appear, his shadow against the floor, and only once the door closed shut behind him again did he creep back out of hiding, his elbows hitting the edge of the desk - 

Something creaked, then rattled, then whirred. Noctis threw himself to the wall with an ill-timed warp as the floor started sinking out from beneath him. The slow grind of machinery came to a stop, though the faint glimmer of magic over the new hole in the floor hadn't left, and Noctis looked at it, then back at the door. Curiosity had gotten him this far, though, and he couldn't deny he was curious: what was down there? Why was it hidden at all?

The magic barrier, if that was what it was, didn't react at all when he stepped down to the shadowed stairs, but the faint glow of old fire flasks set in pedestals lit the way. Noctis was regretting it when the curving stairwell seemed to have no end in sight. He squinted down, focused, and tried a warp to the stairs below; it took a few tries before he managed it, and then he only managed two more before he tripped over his feet and fell to the ground, jarring his arms and scraping his palms and knees.

Noctis couldn't help the cry that escaped him. The light was brighter, here, and he examined his hands and thought miserably about how he'd explain this to Gladio, who'd know he didn't get it in training, when a voice echoed around the carved-away stone room: "A visitor? Here?"

Noctis twisted on the floor, then saw it: a dias, well-lit, with golden bars rising to the high ceiling. A man was leaning against one side of the gilded cage, looking like nothing more than a ghost, and Noctis gingerly picked himself back up. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" the man said. "I think that's a far more interesting question, don't you?"

Noctis took a few steps forward. His whole body still felt like it did after Gladio had pushed him, his limbs aching, and he braced himself against the wall before he remembered his hands still hurt. "I'm Noct," he said, "but - why are you down here? Who are you? Are you a ghost?"

"Unfortunately not." The man tilted his head, then smiled, suddenly, and held out his hand. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "It's very nice to meet you, Noct. And I'd prefer you didn't become one, either, not the first visitor I've had in years - would you mind stepping closer?"

Noctis took one step toward him. "Why?"

"It has been a while," the man said, "but I'm sure I still remember the basics. You're hurt, aren't you? Luckily for you, I have the magic touch." He waggled his fingers enticingly.

Noctis bit his lip. "Why are you locked up?"

"Political differences, I'm afraid," the man said. "Come, now. This is a one-time offer."

Taking a few tentative steps forward, Noctis slipped his hand between the gap in the golden bars. The man took it, and then - it felt like a warmth flooded through him, his aches disappearing and skin closing up and healing over right before Noctis's eyes. "There," the man said, "that wasn't so bad, was it?" and Noctis pulled his hand back and examined his palm.

"Wow. That's the Oracle's power, isn't it?" Luna loved talking about the stories. "Why do you have it?"

"So many questions," the man said. "I should at least answer your first. Ardyn Lucius Caelum, at your service."

He bowed, so dramatically Noctis had to struggle not to laugh. "You're my... uncle?"

"More distant than that, I'm afraid," Ardyn said. "But come. Let me tell you a story, dear Noct."

The stone was cold and uncomfortable to sit on, but Noctis forgot it entirely as Ardyn spun his tales, so vividly he could see them acted out on a stage. He left that day only when he knew he'd start to get in trouble if he stayed any longer, and found himself drawn back, time and time again, sneaking extra food out of the kitchens that Ardyn accepted with surprise. He never answered all of Noctis's questions, but the more time Noctis spent with him, the less he minded. If Ardyn had been bad or deserved to be locked up, surely he'd have done something by now, but all he'd been was kind.

Noctis didn't free him, though, and Ardyn didn't ask.

But he'd gotten careless in his visits. His father, Noctis knew, thought he was keeping a pet in some abandoned rooms. Ignis was harder to dodge, and Noctis's dreams, too, had gotten weird, Carbuncle strangely silent whenever Noctis dreamt Ardyn there. "Why don't you like him?" Noctis asked it, curiously, and Carbuncle shook its head and wrapped its tail around Noctis's ankle, chirruping.

Noctis checked his phone. _I just think you should be careful, Noct!_

"You're as bad as all of them," Noctis said, but he scratched behind Carbuncle's fluffy ears. "He's my friend."

_We'll see._

Noctis was sure of it, though.

He didn't know when he'd been followed, or how his father had known. But one moment he'd been telling Ardyn about his history lessons ("How long have you been here?" Noctis had asked, once, and gotten a suspicious silence) and the next Ardyn had pulled him, hard; Ardyn's grip on his hair was so tight it brought tears to his eyes, but Noctis's penknife suddenly at his own neck had his pulse beating fast and loud in his ears.

"Shh," Ardyn said into his ear, as Noctis opened his mouth and closed it, the only sound out of him something tight and hopeless. "Don't worry, dear Noct. Open your eyes."

Noctis did, one and the other, and saw his father standing by the stairs, his expression flat. "No closer," Ardyn said, voice pitched to carry. "Unless you'd like to lose your darling heir."

"What do you want?" Noctis's father said. Noctis hadn't ever seen him like this, his brows drawn in straight lines, his mouth pulled tight, but when he tried to move Ardyn tugged lightly on his hair. Noctis winced, and his father must have seen it; he took a step forward, and Ardyn tsked loudly.

"You know what I want," he said. "It's what I've always wanted. It's what you keep passing down, father to son, as what never to do - pity this one found me first. Give me my freedom, and I won't spill his blood all over the floor."

"It won't work," Noctis's father said. "You know it has to be freely given."

"Then you will give it to me," Ardyn said, "freely. How much does he mean to you, King Regis? Enough to loose the boogeyman unto the world?"

Noctis swallowed as his father pulled a blade from the Armiger, looking like he was considering a fight. He could feel Ardyn's grip on his hair gentling as his father instead took it to his palm, slicing it open and lifting his hand in the air, but it wasn't until the first drop of blood hit the ground that Ardyn released him entirely.

Noctis had a million questions, but his father warped - and then Ardyn did, a blur of red to the other end of the room. "Well," Ardyn said, eyeing his father, "I'd best be off. Take care, won't you, Noct?"

And then he was gone.

Noctis's father sighed into Noctis's hair when he wrapped his arms around him, later, and Noctis endured the scolding and bristled against the new restrictions on his movements and free time. "I only want you safe," he said, and Noctis couldn't argue in the face of his careful, entreating expression. It wouldn't last, but Noctis couldn't help wanting to enjoy it while it did.

 

Noctis sighed. "The ferry's really down again?"

"There is the matter of diplomatic procedure to be considered," Ignis said, following Noctis's gaze to Gladio, trying to charm or threaten an answer out of the ferryman. "The Empire has already threatened war. If the Crown Prince of Lucis is seen entering Accordo formally on the tail of that warning..."

"Yeah," Noctis said, "I know, I know."

"Very good," Ignis said dryly. "The King never specified an order to your search, did he? Perhaps we should start closer to home."

Noctis sighed again. "I was looking forward to the holiday."

"Gotta put your feet up some other day," Gladio said, ambling back over. "The ferry's under 'maintenance', the guy says. Whatever that means."

"Aw, really?" Prompto said. Noctis peered around and saw him on the pier's higher balcony, where he swung his legs over the edge and dropped back down to the ground. "We're not going to be camping, are we?"

"Depends on where we're headed," Gladio said. "Noct?"

Noctis shrugged. 

"The car, first," Ignis said, thankfully. "Then, I think Lestallum will be next on our agenda. If that's all right with you, Noct?"

"Sounds good, Specs," Noctis said, but his mind was elsewhere - namely, on the vaguely familiar mop of hair on the man standing with his back to them, an elbow on the railing, face out to sea. "Hey, would you mind if I just - "

The man turned, raised increasingly familiar eyebrows, and headed purposefully toward them. He lifted his hand and tossed something at them, and Noctis raised his hand automatically to catch it - when Gladio intercepted it. "Hey - "

"I'm afraid the ferry will be down for weeks," the man said, and Noctis said, blankly:

"Ardyn?"

"Wait," Gladio said, "you know him?"

"Oh," Ardyn said, as though he hadn't seen Noctis there at all, though Noctis knew he had. "You're looking well, dear Noct."

"I," Noctis managed. "What are you doing here?"

"Enjoying the sights, of course," Ardyn said. "And hoping to catch a ferry to Altissia, though alas, I've been as foiled as you."

"Uh," Prompto started, glancing between them, "did you want us to..."

Noctis hissed an irritated breath through his teeth and stalked forward, grabbed Ardyn by his arm and dragged him away from prying ears and eyes. Ardyn's expression didn't change from his vague amusement, his mouth quirked in a slight smile, and he said, "Why, Noct, if I didn't know better - "

"Shut up," Noctis said, then, "no. Where've you been?"

"Determining my destiny," Ardyn said glibly. "And yours, as it turns out. I had wondered."

Noctis shook his head. "Why did you - why did you cover for me?"

"If you were any more locked away, I feared the King would never let you leave the safety of your Crown City," Ardyn said, "and while all walls can be breached - "

"Ardyn," Noctis said, "I know."

He'd gotten nothing from his father, afterward. But he wasn't the only source of information on the Lucian bloodline, on the tales of a monster hidden under the ground, and when all those were exhausted Noctis turned to Carbuncle, who shared tiny pieces of history that were nonetheless enough with Ardyn's own tales that Noctis had a decent sense of what had happened, all those years ago.

Ardyn said, "We have our roles, Noct."

"And why do you want to follow them? Have you even tried anything else?"

"I," Ardyn said, tone suddenly vicious, "have tried enough. If this is the path Eos is to tread, so be it."

"Please," Noctis said, and grabbed at his arm as he turned away. "You - you told me this stuff for a reason, Ardyn. Let me ask Luna, let me and my friends try to find some other way..."

Ardyn's expression was remote, a strange, shadowed thing that made the hollows of his cheeks look sunken, the light in his eyes turn black. Noctis felt drawn to him and repelled, felt the considering look in Ardyn's eyes like a physical weight that made his pulse speed up, uncertain fear and adrenaline in his veins. "Please," Noctis said, again.

"The Chosen King," Ardyn said, voice low, "and this is the path you choose?"

There was nothing but a step between them. Noctis closed the gap, twisting his hand in Ardyn's collar and pulling him down to say in his ear: "I freed you."

"I suppose you did," Ardyn said. "Then, Noctis Lucis Caelum, what boon do you so desire?"

"You know what," Noctis said. "Give me time."

"Then I will grant you that which you granted me," Ardyn said. "Four months. You'd better start soon, dear Noct. I hear the days have started to shorten already." He began to pull away, but Noctis didn't let him go. "Was there something else?"

"Yeah," Noctis said. "One more thing."

The kiss was brief and chaste, but the darkness in Ardyn's expression was entirely chased away by his bemusement. "Your father will have a fit if he hears of this." He didn't sound particularly disapproving.

"Then," Noctis said, "shouldn't we?" and Ardyn laughed. He pressed Noctis back against the wall, smirking, and kissed Noctis until his blood ran hot, and Noctis wasn't sure if he wanted to push him away or pull him back when Ardyn took a step back, fingers digging bruises into his shoulders.

"I will," he said, his voice low and intimate, "kill every one of your precious friends if that's what it takes."

"It won't come to that," Noctis said. "I promise."

Ardyn let him go and turned away, shaking his head. "Don't make promises you can't keep, dear Prince."

He left, straightening his coat as he went, and Noctis exhaled and forced his legs to work again as he headed up the stairs. His friends were there, Prompto whistling far too innocently, though he stopped, grinning, when Noctis gave him a frown that wouldn't quite stay on his face.

Ignis cleared his throat. "All done, then?"

"Yeah," Noctis said.

"All right! To Lestallum we go!"

"Actually," Noctis said, "there's been a change of plans."

The Royal Arms, the Covenants of the Astrals, even the coming war - all of it could wait. He had four months. It had to be long enough.


End file.
